Wealden parliamentary constituency is the northern part of
the Wealden District in the County of East Sussex. It stretches from the
parishes of Forest Row and Danehill in the west to Wadhurst in the East
and Hailsham in the south. It has three main towns, Crowborough, Uckfield
and Hailsham which between them house some 40% of the 83,000 voters (well
over the average electorate of 69,281 for a Parliamentary constituency in
England).

The north of the constituency is dominated by the Ashdown Forest which is
part of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The
Ashdown Forest is a Special Protection Area (an EC designation under the
Habitats Directive). It is also contains a number of Sites of Special
Scientific Interest (SSSI). These designations impose planning constraints

Within the Parliamentary constituency Liberal Democrats hold 13 of the 42
seats on Wealden District Council. There are a further 16 Wealden District
Council seats in the neighbouring constituencies of Lewes, Eastbourne and
Bexhill and Battle - Liberal Democrats hold 7 of these.

In Victorian times the area was well served by a comprehensive rail
network but this was mostly dismantled in the1960s and 70s. Apart from the
London -Tunbridge Wells-Hastings line which clips the north-east corner of
the constituency, Wealden is served by a single track branch line (site of
Cowden Rail Crash) connecting Uckfield,
Buxted, Crowborough and Eridge
with Oxted (Surrey) on the Victoria-East Grinstead line. Services are at
best hourly on 40 yr old diesel trains. A long running campaign to have
this line electrified, doubled and restored to Lewes has cross party
support. Bus services are sparse, slow and expensive.

The paucity of public transport and the rural character of the
constituency puts great pressure on the road network. Improving this
network is constrained by the the AONB status of much of the area and the
need to conserve the Ashdown Forest. People are increasingly aware of the
conflict between their needs as drivers and their needs as residents.

There is a conflict between those who profit by tourism and those who feel
it damages their amenity. To a very large extent the problem is not the
tourists themselves but their motor cars which choke 'honeypot' areas and
villages such as Hartfield (home of Pooh Bear).

Even before John Prescott increased the figures,
Wealden District had been
allocated a requirement for 3,300 new dwellings in the period up to 2011;
these are to be focussed on peripheral expansions to Uckfield, Hailsham
and Polegate (Polegate is in the part of Wealden DC which is outside the
Constituency).

The existing infrastructure is barely adequate for present housing. The
planned increase will place arguably unsustainable burdens on water
supplies and roads. Although there are people who see these proposals as a
boost to trade or an opportunity for personal gain, many fear the
resulting influx will erode the rural tranquillity and quality of life in
this area.

Nevertheless, there is a wide recognition that house prices are rising
above the reach of 'ordinary people' and an acknowledged need for more
'social housing' for local people and their children.